33 | Fireworks | Muller Van Severen

01.02.2018 | 17.03.2018

OPENING DRINK 01.02.2018 | 4-9PM

Valerie Traan Gallery presents Fireworks, a new exhibition by Muller Van Severen. De series of ‘paravents’ is being shown in Belgium for the first time, after a previous succesful presentation in Milan. Besides these paravents, produced in close collaboration with Emaillerie Belge, the designer duo is also showing new tables.

Fireworksis part of the ongoing research by Muller Van Severen around the interactions between space and the objects that occupy it. They explore a sense of verticality and have conceived these works as abstract compositions that relate directly to the architecture. Whereas tables, desks, or lamps, engage in a rather linear dialogue with space, enamel is shown to advantage in more vertical shapes. Therefore, the paravents are the ideal bearers of this material.

The paravents are composed by various realisations of curved sheets of metal, coated with vitrified enamel. The strong enamel has a certain tactile quality to it, but also invites care. The production was an experiment. Every screen therefore reveals an essence and is the result of a meticulous quest for detail and a fascinating artisan process.

The colourful, whimsical shapes define portions of the space. The new tables, with their more landscape-like horizontality, ensure the necessary balance in the spacious architecture of Valerie Traan Gallery. The tables and paravents, shown in duo’s, complete each other. They generate a dynamic dialogue between the vertical and the horizontal, the functional and the aesthetical.

In 2011, Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen, both artists, decided to do a joint furniture project, at the request of Valerie Traan Gallery, which specializes in the space between art, design and architecture. The couple have been designing under the name Muller Van Severen ever since and their first furniture and lighting sculptures quickly captured international attention. Fireworks is their fourth solo exhibition at Valerie Traan Gallery, which continues to support the duo and show and distribute their creations in what is still a fruitful and productive collaboration.

Fireworks has been made possible thanks to he support of Tanguy Van Quickenborne and Emaillerie Belge.